Custody
by castor442
Summary: Damon was not one to forgive easily, especially where Stefan's well-being was concerned. But anyone who knew him well knew he'd do almost anything to make his brother happy. And that sometimes meant slightly compromising.


_**Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries or its characters. There, I said it!**_

* * *

"Damon, I'm leaving"

"Go put on your jacket"

Stefan huffed in annoyance. His brother hadn't even turned around and yet he somehow still knew Stefan had deliberately left the jacket behind.

"Its part of the uniform Stef. You can't go to school without it. Besides, there's a chill in the air today, and you need to look human" Damon added. "I know you don't like it but its unavoidable"

Stefan stomped back upstairs to his room and Damon hid a smile. His little brother could be petty sometimes. When he came back down, his jacket was buttoned smartly, school crest shining on the chest like a beacon. He grabbed his school bag and snagged an apple from the fruit bowl.

"Are you actually working?" Stefan asked incredulously, looking over Damon's shoulder at all the files and other stuff before him

"Uh huh" Damon hummed. "I'm bored, and Klaus cancelled because Kol broke his arm playing ball or something and he has to stay home for a few days to pretend its healing"

"Huh"

"Yeah. Hey, take the Mercedes. Its going to rain today, I think, and I don't want you riding the motorcycle home. I swear Mrs. Kamealoha almost glared a hole right through me when you left without a helmet on Thursday because you were late. I'm fresh out of holes"

Stefan laughed and took the keys to the flashy car in the garage, secretly glad that Damon had suggested he take it. He hadn't driven that one yet. It was his turn to show off at school today.

* * *

Damon was right. It did rain, quite heavily too, and it went on through the night and well into the morning. It rained so hard and for so long that school was cancelled – parents wouldn't allow their kids to drive in the weather – and so Damon allowed Stefan to sleep as long as he wanted. And he was grateful for that when his day suddenly turned darker than the clouds outside.

At first, the knocking at the door sounded just like the sounds of the rain against the house and Damon gave no thought to it. But after a few moments, he realized it was more regular that the rain. Grumbling to himself about who would be crazy enough to go around in weather like this, he ambled down the stairs, puling a shirt over his head as he did so. Opening the door however, he froze.

"What are you doing here?" he asked heatedly

"H-Hi"

"Hi? You show up on my doorstep, unannounced and unwelcome, in the middle of a thunderstorm, and all you can come up with is 'hi'?"

"I … um … I was … I wanted to check up on Stefan. And you. You and your brother. Both of you"

"I told you the last time we saw each other, mother. You mean nothing to Stefan and I. You left us first. We're simply returning the favor. Now, I haven't told Stefan about your little parlor trick back in Mystic Falls. He doesn't know you are alive and I'd like to keep it that way. So whatever lapse in judgement made you think we need your mothering…" Damon trailed off. "…wait, your little happy family is gone. Most of the heretics died in Mystic Falls. As a matter of fact, only Valerie is still alive, and she's enjoying travelling around the globe and has no intentions of coming back to you, at least not straight away. That's why you are here isn't it? You have mothering in spades and no one to mother. So, you came all the way to Hawaii to pick up your discarded projects. Well, _**mother**_, go find yourself some other poor lost child to nurture – I hear Enzo's in Alaska, ooh, and the Mikaelsons are in Florida. You'll love them mother, you'll really do – but Stefan and I? We are off limits. Don't come back here" Damon ended, shutting the door harshly

"_So, you sent her away?"_

"_Of course, I did. What did you think? We were gonna pop open some Chardonnay and talk about our feelings?"_

"_But she's your mother, Damon. And she's attempting to make amends. Doesn't that count for anything?"_

"_No. I was seventeen, it was sad but I could handle it. But Stefan? He was a baby, man…"_

"… _Ten"_

"_Point is, she was alive-ish. And she didn't come back. She told me, plainly, that she didn't have any motherly tendencies toward Stefan or I. And she proved it too. She couldn't talk Stefan down from when he had his humanity off, I had to feed her a goddamn speech. She couldn't connect to her own son then and she can't now"_

"_Why don't you see what Stefan thinks? You'll have to tell him sometime. Eternity is a long time to keep something like this from him"_

"_I know what Stefan thinks, Ric. Mommy's back, yay, its Christmas"_

_Alaric sighed. "Damon, your mother did you a grave injustice, something you may never forgive her for. But Stefan is willing to …"_

"_Because he doesn't remember …"_

"_Exactly. He remembers times when everything was sunshine and rainbows. Tell him. Let him see her and make his own decision. If he decides to forgive her, let him do that. You can still hold onto your anger, Damon. No one is taking that from you. Stefan has had a hard life; he could do with some mothering"_

"_I don't like it"_

"_Well tough. Deal with it. Even when we were on opposite sides back in Mystic Falls, your mother was fiercely protective of her newfound family. It won't be bad to have someone else in Stefan's corner for when things get rough. Just let him see her once"_

"_A custody battle for my teenage vampire brother with my vampire mother" Damon recited. "Words I never thought I'd us in the same sentence"_

"_Oh, come off it. And stop being so damn dramatic" Alaric said. "It's just one visit, and he may not even like it…"_

"_Of course, he'll like it. Its Stefan" Damon grumbled_

_Alaric chuckled. "You can spy on them if you want. Do you think she's left town? Can you find her?"_

"_It's Kahala, Ric, and my mother, I think I can manage. Besides, there's bad weather. No one is leaving the island for a few days"_

It took Damon less than an hour to find the hotel his mother was staying at. It helped that she was staying under her real name. And then it took him about another hour to work himself up to actually going to talk to her. The rain was still coming down in torrents, though it was after noon now, and Stefan had been up for some time. Damon took one last look at the screen before getting up to leave. _The things I do for you brother, _he shook his head as he stopped at Stefan's door.

"I'm going out for a bit" he announced

Stefan looked up. He had been texting Kol about his 'broken' arm. "In this weather? Why, what's wrong?"

"Nothing" Damon replied, zipping up his leather jacket. "I'll be back in an hour, tops. Don't leave the house" and then he was gone, leaving a confused Stefan in his wake.

* * *

Surprise was an understatement, to say the least, when Lily opened her door to find her oldest son standing there, slightly wet, his bangs falling into his eyes. Before she could stutter something however, Damon just swept past her into the room, heading straight for the bottle of wine his mother had been drinking. His nose scrunched in distaste for a minute before he took a sip. _ It was still alcohol, sue him._ Lily shook herself out of her stupor quickly, her motherly instincts kicking in as she dashed to the bathroom to grab Damon a towel. He snatched her hand out of midair though when she attempted to towel his hair dry.

"I'm not here for you" her smile fell. Damon continued. "I'm here for Stefan. He doesn't know you are alive, or that you are on the island. I'm fervently against it, but I'm going to tell him today, and depending on his reaction, maybe I'll bring him here tomorrow" he went straight to the point

Lily smiled again. "Won't you sit, son?"

"No" Damon answered curtly. "If you hurt him, in any way…"

"He's my son, Damon. Why would you think I would hurt him?"

"Gee, I don't know. You just remembering that little detail now?" Damon said, positively dripping sarcasm and already making his way to the door. "Goodbye mother"

"Wait" Lily called. "What … what does he like? Should I get him something?"

Damon paused at the door. "He's your son. Figure it out" he threw over his shoulder, before slamming the door behind him.

* * *

"She's _**what?"**_

"Alive. Mary Louise and Nora were able to prevent the wooden shards from reaching her heart" Damon said pouring two glasses of bourbon

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I just did" he snipped, handing Stefan one of the glasses

Stefan finished his drink with one huge gulp. "But I saw her with my own eyes. She desiccated"

"Smoke screens and theatrics little brother. I needed you to see her die" Damon said, refilling the glass

"What _**possible**_ reason could you have for wanting me to see my mother die?"

"To save you from future broken hearts. She still had her new family, Stef. She was never going to leave them for us like you hoped"

"She was our mother, Damon"

"Yes" Damon downed his second glass of bourbon. "She **was**"

"She still is brother. She came back. She came all the way to Hawaii for us"

"I'm glad her hundred-year exhaustive search has come to an end" Damon said drily

Stefan ignored the tone. "Don't you see? She wouldn't do that unless she still loved us"

"Your optimism continues to astound me, little brother" the dry tone continued

"We should invite her over. She could come here"

"That's not happening" Damon shot down quickly. "But you can go see her tomorrow if you want"

"I would love that. But what about you?" Stefan, ever the bleeding heart, asked

"We already had our one on one. It went great. Tomorrow's all yours"

"Awesome"

* * *

When Damon dropped his little brother off at their mother's hotel the next morning, it was with lots of grumbles. "I'll pick you up at six. Keep your phone on at all times. Call me when you want to leave early or you're bored or even if you don't like the color of her duvet"

Stefan had to laugh at that. "Damon, I'm not deploying to World War two. I'm just going to see my mother"

"Like that's any better" he grumbled more

Stefan stepped out of the car. "You sure you don't wanna come up? Say hello?"

"We've said enough Alohas to last us forever" Damon said as he started the car. "Have fun" he threw over his shoulder at Stefan, tires screeching as he sped off

"_So, how did it go?"_

"_I don't know. I still have twenty-three minutes to pick him up"_

"_It's weird that you know the exact number of minutes left"_

"_Yea, well, I only allowed him to go at all because you said to. If it were up to me, he'd still be in blissful ignorance" Damon groused_

_Alaric sighed again. He'd been doing a lot of that lately. "Just, don't rush him okay? Allow Stefan to forge a relationship with your mother on his own. Don't attempt to sabotage it or do anything stupid"_

"_I'm hurt Ric. Why would you think I will ever do something like that?". The silence on the other end of the call spoke volumes. Damon huffed. "Fine. I'll let Stefan have a rapport with mommy. But I'm warning you Ric, anything happens to him and…"_

"_And nothing, Damon. It's his mother for Christ sake, not the Wicked Witch of The West. You need to relax" Alaric said. "And stop abusing the bar" he added when he heard the sound of clinking glasses_

"_I have to go. It's time to go get him"_

"_Okay. But remember, if Stefan wants to see her again…"_

"_I get it Ric. I'll let him. But I'll be watching"_

"_I will expect no less. Alright, you can go fetch your brother now"_

"_Wow. Thanks man. Thanks for giving me permission to do what I was going to do all along" Alaric chuckled. "Talk to you later"_

* * *

Damon watched his brother as he slept. Like he predicted, Stefan had hit it off with Lily, and he had barely got inside the car before asking Damon when he could see her again. He still couldn't bring himself to forgive Lily - _not yet, _a small irritating voice he'd been ignoring said in the back of his mind - but deep down, he knew his little brother could do with a bit of a mother's love. And as much as he didn't like it, he was going to allow Stefan to spend time with Lily. He'll have to make up some form of arrangement to deal with that later, but right now he couldn't be bothered. With one last look at his little brother's face, Damon gave a small smile and shut the door softly, leaving Stefan to snooze the night away.


End file.
